“I’m very pleased with our operational and financial results as we closed 2019, and I’m encouraged by the sustained international activity growth, although conditions in North America land became more challenging. Fourth-quarter EPS of $0.39, excluding charges and credits, was sequentially lower, but was 8% higher than the same quarter last year. Pretax segment operating margin declined sequentially on seasonal effects but improved when compared to the same quarter last year. This quarter delivered the first sequential growth in international margin in any fourth quarter since 2014. We are therefore confident we have turned the corner, particularly as we have now seen sequential international margin growth for the last three quarters as a result of our discipline and focus on execution performance. Meanwhile, in North America land, we minimized the margin dilution from lower activity by implementing ourscale-to-fit strategy, acting decisively in reducing capacity, and restructuring our operations.
“In addition, we generated significant cashflow from operations as we ended the year, leveraging our capital stewardship program. We also completed two major milestones during the quarter: the formation of the Sensia joint venture and the divestiture of our Drilling Tools business. The proceeds from these transactions further supported the significant reduction of our net debt during the quarter.
“From a macro perspective, we ended the year with 2020 oil demand growth sentiment turning positive as uncertainty reduced following the progress made toward aUS-China trade deal. The fall in the North America production growth estimate of between 400,000 to 800,000 bpd should continue to support the thesis for international investment. The recent escalation of geopolitical risk should set the floor for the oil price going forward. In the near term, we expect the OPEC+ production cuts agreed upon in December 2019 to limit investment and activity, particularly in the Middle East and Russia, during the first half of 2020. As the year progresses, the effect of slowing North America production growth is likely to cause tightness in the market and further stimulate international operators to step up their investments in the second half of the year and beyond.
“Based on this, we expect 2020 E&P capex spending growth rate in the international markets to be in themid-single-digit range. We would therefore expect our international portfolio revenue to grow at the same pace or higher, excluding the effects of the Sensia and Drilling Tools transactions. Thecarved-out businesses in these transactions accounted for approximately 2% of our global revenue in 2019. International revenue growth will be more heavily weighted to the second half of the year with increasing offshore activity, improving activity mix from the early deepwater growth cycle, and increasing exploration work toward the end of the year and into 2021.
“In North America, we are continuing toscale-to-fit our organization and portfolio by repurposing or exiting underperforming business units, focusing on asset-light operations, and expanding our technology access business models. In alignment with our stated strategy, we are cautiously optimistic that the high-grading of our portfolio will promote margin expansion and the improvement of returns in the North America land market. It has also led to the closing of a significant number of facilities and, unfortunately, workforce reductions.
“After a strong free cash flow performance in the second half of 2019, we are confident in our ability to further improve cash flow generation in 2020. Our focus on improved margins, capital stewardship, and careful management of working capital will continue to underpin our ability to generate improved free cash flow.
“All in all, we finished the year with a very solid quarter, aligned with our performance vision and our focus on returns. I am very pleased with the results, and I’m proud of the Schlumberger team that delivered this performance.”
Other Events
On December 10, 2019, Schlumberger announced that Simon Ayat, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will step down effective January 22, 2020. Mr. Ayat, who joined the Company in 1982, will remain with Schlumberger as Senior Strategic Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer for a period of two years. Mr. Stephane Biguet, our current Vice President of Finance and a24-year Schlumberger veteran, will succeed Mr. Ayat as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
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